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✭ Mountaingrass - new location & dates for 2018.✭

Mountaingrass 2018 will be held at The George Kerferd Hotel at Mayday Hills in Beechworth on the second weekend in November, from 9th - 11th.

The George Kerferd Hotel has a restaurant, bar and a large function room seating over 400. There is also a National Trust theatre available, (where Dame Nellie Melba once sang!) that is capable of seating up to 100. A small chapel in the hotel grounds, has great acoustics, is able to seat 60 and can be used for workshops and small concerts. The hotel is surrounded by acres of beautiful grounds, full of huge shady trees. The accommodation at the George Kerferd Hotel also includes the recently refurbished Linaker Lodge, previously the nurse’s quarters for the hospital that was located there. There are many open air and under-cover spaces for picking and conducting workshops. Mayday Hills is close to the centre of Beechworth, where there is a variety of accommodation, including two large caravan parks. Best of all, the proprietors of the hotel are very keen to host Mountaingrass.

We are very grateful for the many suggestions provided by our members regarding possible future locations for Mountaingrass. We are confident that our choice of the change of date and location will meet with approval from our membership, and that it will enable ABOTMA to continue to successfully run Mountaingrass for future years.

We thank all local supporters and sponsors of ABOTMA’s Mountaingrass in Harrietville over the past five years and we recognise the assistance and support provided for our type of acoustic music in Harrietville over many years prior to ABOTMA.

The original Harrietville Bluegrass and Traditional Country Music Convention was held in October 1989. It was organised by a group of musicians including Nick and Janet Dear, Rod and Judy Jones, Philomena Carroll and Laurie Grundy. With help from other dedicated volunteers the festival grew into the peak event on the bluegrass and old time music calendar in Australia and came to be known simply as ‘Harrietville'.

Mountaingrass continues the tradition of bringing U.S. Bluegrass and Old-Time acts to play concerts and run workshops for fans and players of all levels. Mountaingrass also showcases a selection of acts from Australia and New Zealand and runs instrument and other workshops for players of all levels. Most of all, Mountaingrass offers two and a half days of non-stop picking and jamming and lots of opportunities to improve your chops.